The Witch's Pupil
by elphieelphaba
Summary: "Yes," she said timidly. "I'll get tutoring. This won't happen again." Galinda knows she isn't a straight A student; everyone knows. But when she fails Dr. Dillamond's most recent exam, she can't help but feel... lousy. She promises to get tutoring, but none of her classmates want to help. Except for one... Review my story if you want more! Elphaba/Galinda Gelphie.
1. Chapter 1

Galinda sat in class with a strange look on her face. It was a look of defeat. She was gripping her recently graded exam with one hand and fiddling with her hair with the other, a nervous habit. 48. She got a 48 on her history exam.

Dr. Dillamond harrumphed all of a sudden to get her attention.

"Miss Glinda, I still haven't received an answer."

She didn't even bother correcting him on her name, she felt like she wasn't in the place to say anything. But she had to answer.

"Yes," she said timidly. "I'll get tutoring. This won't happen again." What would her parents say? Sure she needn't worry about getting a job after university, what with being born into high status. Her parents didn't expect her to get all A's or to make the honor roll, but they surely didn't expect _this_. For the first time in her life she felt... guilt.

"Very well, I have high hopes for you Miss Glinda. You'll find a way to get yourself back on track, I just know it." His eyes twinkled with something, something friendly. Galinda found herself smiling up at him, despite the situation. For an old goat he was fairly supportive and inspirational. Maybe that's why her roomie liked him so much...

The thought of her roommate made Galinda's smile fade. Her roommate, Elphaba. She was so weird, always reading, always prattling on about the mistreatment of Animals and history and evil—it had been evil recently, yes. _That_ was the latest thing, so it seemed. But Elphaba was smart. She studied, but it wasn't necessarily her studying that gained her high marks. It was her ability to actually _think_. She questioned, everything, in and out of class, and it sometimes drove Galinda nuts. _Just take it or leave_ _it!_ _Some of us actually have things to do, teachers to teach, students to listen and learn._ But they did learn. They learned from the green girl that day she challenged Madame Morrible and her views on Animal rights, and every time Dr. Dillamond and her would bounce ideas off one another in class, stuck in their own conversations. She didn't know why she didn't like admitting it, but Elphaba's involvement had been helpful; Galinda would feel weird if her roomie _wasn't_ butting-in every lesson. She liked how she could always tell when Elphaba's gears were going in that strange, pointed head of hers...

"Harrumph. So, do you have a particular tutor in mind?" Dr. Dillamond shook her from her daze.

"Oh, no. I don't. Should I?"

"Most certainly," he smiled playfully, then turned his back on her to address the board. They had been studying the Wizard's reign. "The next big test is in three weeks, and it's a killer." He used his stick to point to today's notes. "This, will be on it. As well as other things."

"What other things?" Her eyes had gone a little glassy after looking at the board; she had taken the notes with ease, but it was _understanding_ them that she struggled with.

"Whatever shows up within these next few weeks." He collapsed his stick and made his way to his desk in that funny little way of his, and placed the stick inside one of his drawers. He clucked his tongue, amused, and then looked back up at Galinda. "This is why the quicker you get a tutor, the better."

Galinda bit her lip, looked down at her score again, and bit her lip harder.

"What are my options?"

"Well, there's me!" Dr. Dillamond lifted his arms up and posed, like he were a trophy. Galinda thought about it; she liked Dr. Dillamond, she did, but she couldn't imagine willing herself to his tutoring sessions throughout the week. She wanted someone she could relate to, although maybe that wasn't the smartest idea, given her score.

"I don't mean to be rude, but are there—" Dr. Dillamond put his arms down and raised a hoof as if to stop her.

"I know I know, seeing one's Professor more than necessary can become quite exhausting. I don't blame you." She sighed, relieved.

"So, what are my other options?"

"Well," he sat down at his desk to get more comfortable and placed a hoof on his chin, thinking. "You could ask one of your classmates if they'd be willing. They'd receive credit, of course, from me. Let me think... Who's doing well... Ah!" His sudden jolt startled Galinda. "Miss Elphaba is doing _exceptionally_ well in my class. Why not ask her?" Galinda's eyes went a little fuzzy.

"My roommate?" _My roommate?!_

"Oh, even better! How easy this has been made for you!" Dr. Dillamond stopped himself before he could finish his thought, and Galinda knew what he was going to say: "How easy this has been made for you! Just like everything else in your life!" It made her mad and flustered, along with the idea of Elphaba as her tutor. It'd be another reason for her to have to listen to her in their dorm whenever Galinda tried to turn in for the night; she was able to go on and on, sleep didn't seem to be an issue for her. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, Galinda would wake up and find her reading in her bed, hunched over like a little old lady. _Just go to sleep!_

It'd be another reason to feel stupid around Elphaba, and for her to view her as an even bigger idiot than before.

"I don't think that'd be uh... a bright idea. My room, our room," she corrected herself. "It's distracting. I'd feel more comfortable in a more... academic setting." She patted herself on the back for that one. She was good at that sort of thing.

"Understandable, understandable," Dr. Dillamond grumbled, though he understood her point. "Just seems like a missed opportunity. Oh well, nothing terrible. Let's see..." He thought some more, Galinda's left leg was bouncing up and down, a little impatiently. She wanted to leave all of a sudden.

"Yes!" he said suddenly. "What about Master Boq?" She made a face. That boy who kept trying to pursue her, like a clingy, lovesick puppy?

"No, that won't be necessary. Thank you Dr. Dillamond, but I really should be going now."

"O-Oh, but what about—?"

"I'll figure it out, I'll do some digging and talk to my classmates," she was getting up now and packing her things. She folded her exam neatly and tucked it away in her purse, even though what she really wanted to do was to crumple it up and toss it into the trash. "Surely one of them will want to help me! Bye now!" She flew out the door and tossed a wave over her shoulder.

Dr. Dillamond simply chuckled and did a little wave back, then proceeded to tidy up his empty classroom.

* * *

Although she _didn't_ figure things out. Galinda had made her rounds, asking her classmates if they'd like to tutor her, and included the bit about how they'd receive credit from Dr. Dillamond, but to no avail. She asked the smartest ones first, and when they politely declined, she asked the rest of them, desperate to find someone. They all said no. They smiled, made their voices go an octave higher, and wore pitying expressions, promising her that _someone_ would come along. She knew the truth, however: she wasn't smart enough in their eyes. She wasn't made for tutoring, she was made for shopping and socials. She was a lost cause.

And while she did love to shop and to socialize, she also needed this. It was taking every bit of her to do it; that little voice inside of her kept telling her to forget about it and to just wing it. But she knew that wouldn't work. She knew Dr. Dillamond was right.

She opened the door to her dorm and closed it gently behind her, her shoulders slouching as she did so. She kicked her heels off lazily and lumbered in, her lip puckered into a small pout. She saw her roommate out of the corner of her eye, reading as usual, but didn't bother to change her dreadful posture and expression. She couldn't tell from her fuzzy peripheral vision, but Elphaba was smiling.

Galinda made it to the foot of her bed and let herself fall onto it; she got a pillow to the face and lay there quietly on her stomach, her arms limp at her sides, her feet dangling off the edge and pointed towards the floor.

Elphaba couldn't help herself, having watched the whole ordeal like it was a damn silent movie, she let out a hearty chuckle. She was still chuckling between breaths as she flipped the page of her book. Galinda heard this and lifted her head, turning it ever so slightly to peer at her roommate. She watched as Elphaba's shoulders moved up and down in the slightest manner as she laughed and how her teeth peeked through her lips in a small crescent. While she felt upset for being laughed at, a part of her, deep down, found the whole thing adorable. She hadn't seen Elphaba laugh like that. She hadn't seen her laugh at all.

"Excuse me, Miss Elphaba. What _ever_ is so funny?" Elphaba stopped her chuckling, though barely. "Is my depressive episode _really_ that amusing to you?"

"While I wouldn't call it an episode, you just kinda fell on your bed."

"Yes, _depressingly_." Elphaba was smiling to herself again, though she tried her best to hide it with her book. Galinda could see this.

"Are you going to ask me _why?_ "

"Hm?" Elphaba looked up, playing the dumb card.

"Don't play dumb with me, we all know you're a genius," but this one seemed real to Elphaba. She could hear the change in Galinda's tone, as if she were choking back tears.

"What's the matter?" she asked, genuinely.

Galinda's lip quivered. She didn't think it'd be that easy for the funny green girl to ask such a thing; they had their sarcastic back-and-forths here and then, like now. It was their way of talking to one another, a communication, a secret handshake so to speak but with words. Now Elphaba had thrown the whole damn script away and was being _nice._ Oh, _Oz._

She felt the tears coming but willed them to stop, her cheeks swelling and the rings around her eyes reddening. She hated this, it was humiliating. Especially in front of Elphaba, who probably thought she looked pathetic. But she didn't.

Elphaba placed her book down, not bothering with the bookmark, and made her way over to Galinda's bed. Galinda's eyes fixated on her, and she watched as Elphaba stood there a little awkwardly, not sure of what to do. She looked like a child, fidgeting with her fingers and averting her gaze. _My goodness, she's embarrassed. Embarrassed for me? Why is she embarrassed, I'm the one who's supposed to be embarrassed._ Then it occurred to Galinda that maybe Elphaba wasn't used to this sort of thing: comforting others. In a way it made sense; nobody comforted her, how would she have learned?

Galinda sat up and scooched over, enough for Elphaba to sit down, which she did. She looked uncomfortable, like she didn't belong there. But she had decided on this, Galinda realized. She wanted to know what was wrong, genuinely. She wasn't like the rest of her classmates who forced themselves to wear pitying expressions as they inched away; Elphaba had come to _her_.

It warmed her heart.

"What's the matter?" Elphaba repeated, a little softer now. Galinda thought about it, and decided that her test would speak for itself. She dug around the bed for her purse and pulled out the exam, handing it to Elphaba. Elphaba took it and unfolded it, inspecting it closely.

 _Well come on don't memorize it!_ Galinda thought, her chest hardening.

"You failed?" She handed it back, after taking one good final glance. "So what?" Galinda's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets.

"So _what?_ Coming from the girl who reads in the middle of night!" Galinda wailed, batting Elphaba on the arm with her test.

Elphaba blushed, her face having gone a little slack. Her eyes, however, were peering at Galinda steadily.

"How did you know that?"

"While I'm not _deaf_ _y'know_. The rustling of your pages, isn't exactly _silent_." Elphaba blushed a little deeper, feeling guilty.

"I didn't know it woke you up."

"Well, it does. And what do you mean, about my exam? Why the carefree attitude?"

"I just figured, since you don't really care about that stuff." Elphaba pulled her legs up onto Galinda's bed and crisscrossed them casually. Galinda, was speechless.

"I don't care about my _grades?_ " Elphaba blinked at her.

"You sound surprised."

"What gave you the idea?" She was crumbling. Elphaba was too honest, she _was_ her classmates but worse. _So much for that._

"Well," Elphaba titled her head back and began to count on her fingers. "You don't study, you don't do your homework—"

"I do my homework!" This broke Elphaba's concentration for a moment, but she simply shook her head and continued.

"You _copy_ homework. You're late to class, you talk in class, you _sleep_ in class, you skip class, you—"

"Alright," she mumbled. "I get where you're coming from..." Elphaba smirked coyly.

"So why the long face then, Miss Galinda?" They addressed each other formally, though not as a polite gesture. It was more of a taunt. But Galinda was suddenly tired of it.

"Because, Elphaba. I actually do care about my grades, shockingly. And Dr. Dillamond says I need a tutor."

"A tutor?" This sparked Elphaba's attention, as well as hearing her name without the clever "Miss" in front of it.

"Dr. Dillamond offered his assistance, but we both knew that wouldn't work. Just a repeat of class, which I already don't get." She sniffled. "And then he mentioned you, and Boq, but I can't stand hi—"

"He mentioned me?"

"Well, yeah. You're the smartest in the class Elphaba, of course he mentioned you." She watched as Elphaba simply nodded, her gears working. Galinda knew she knew, that she had said no to that idea. She couldn't tell if Elphaba was hurt or not; she was just, thinking. Then she looked at Galinda and spoke.

"Boq was out of the question, I guess. Did he mention anyone else?" Galinda looked at her, looked for any signs of hurt behind those dark brown eyes. Maybe she wasn't hurt, Galinda thought to herself. Maybe she was _relieved._

But Galinda knew, she was stung. Elphaba loved to tutor her on useless things, how was this any different?

"I left. It was getting stuffy in that classroom, even with nobody in it. I promised him though that I'd figure it out, ask our classmates if they'd be fit for the job."

"And?"

"They all said no." She looked down at her dress and played with the hem. This was embarrassing.

"I'm sorry," Elphaba said after a while. "I mean it."

Galinda looked up at the taller girl, who still seemed to tower over her even though they were both sitting, and she smiled.

"Thank you."

Elphaba smiled, and Galinda could see it this time. It was faint but warm, the tips of her lips dug into her cheeks softly. She looked sweet, Galinda thought.

Elphaba averted her gaze all of a sudden, then willed herself to open her mouth to say something.

"I can be your tutor, if you'd like." It caught Galinda by surprise; she was seriously starting to consider Boq, that was going to be her Plan B. But here was Elphaba, offering to teach her despite feeling, well... unwanted. It was a little inspiring, Galinda admitted to herself. It was like she was picking herself right back up after a fall. Although that's been her entire life, she realized. She waited until Elphaba looked at her again, wondering why she wasn't saying anything.

"I'd like that."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** **Thank you for reading my fanfiction that I feverishly typed at 4am! This idea has been swarming around my head forever, and I decided to put it to use! Please review and/or tell me if you want me to continue the story! I'll probably continue it on my own, because honestly, I enjoy this story, but reviews are still appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a weight off Galinda's shoulders when she agreed to having Elphaba as a tutor; she felt smarter already. Although she hadn't done any actual work. She was avoiding it.

Her roommate knew this, as every time she tried to start a lesson Galinda would change the subject, out of what seemed to be desperation. It confused the green girl, and irritated her somewhat, although she respected Galinda's wishes, not wanting to upset her. But it had already been three days.

Galinda was sitting in the dining hall, waiting for her friends Pfannee and Shenshen to show up so they could eat together. Her mind was racing, thinking about Elphaba and the lessons she so desperately needed, but didn't want to do. _Why?_ She thought to herself. _Why am I avoiding this? I need this so bad._ Was it her roomie? They were never necessarily two peas in a pod—oh, was that offensive? They were never necessarily birds of a feather who flocked together. _Better_.

But they weren't enemies either. Galinda actually found herself enjoying Elphaba's company from time to time; while weird, her ramblings about evil and Animal rights were starting to grow on Galinda, and she found it charming in a way. She'd fall asleep peacefully whilst listening to her roommate talk, and Elphaba didn't seem to mind, too engrossed in what she was saying anyway. But it was whenever she turned the attention back onto Galinda and her lessons that Galinda got stiff. Why _was_ that? She needed to calm down, she was here to relax, no signs of Elphaba anywhere. Her morals wouldn't be tested and she was perfectly fine with that.

"Galinda dear!" Pfannee called out, her and Shenshen bustling toward her table. Galinda smiled, happy to see her friends. _A distraction!_

"Ladies!" She stood up, pressing her palms against her green dress, smoothing it out. They hugged, musing about lunch and the chance to catch up. They helped themselves to salad and fish and sat back down, Shenshen already going into their conversational topic for that day.

" _Well_ , I don't know about you girls, but I've seen him."

"Seen who?" Galinda asked, biting down on a tomato.

" _Him_ , the Winkie Prince!" Pfannee finished, nibbling on the inner part of her lip childishly. Galinda blinked, unsure of what they were talking about.

"I'm not following." Her friends rolled their eyes.

"Do we have to spell it out for you? The new student—"

"He's from the Vinkus! Oh how exotic!"

—he arrived about a few days ago. Oh he's beautiful, Galinda. So prim and proper, yet so... so..."

"Exotic!" Pfannee offered, again.

"Exactly, _exotic_. I've never seen anything like it," Shenshen commented, rather casually, whilst toying with her fish. Galinda's eyebrows furrowed, her fork hanging in midair.

"Exotic? That's..." _Crude? Racist? Belittling?_ "A unique way of putting it." She bit on a lettuce leaf, looking down at her bowl to dig around for some cheese and nuts.

"Well wait until you see him. Ungh, I could hardly contain myself when I saw him." At this Shenshen leaned forward to grip Galinda's free hand. "He's in my _class_. Oz, I'm the luckiest girl in the world," she breathed. Pfannee rolled her eyes jealously. Galinda inspected Shenshen, the way her eyes glazed over and her teeth clenched slightly when talking about this boy. It was a little frightening. Galinda had her crushes, her fantasies that she'd play in her head whenever she was bored or lovesick herself. But it was never this bad. _Have some respect for yourself, girls_ , she thought to herself. Suddenly, Pfannee gasped.

"There he is!" she croaked, a hand placed over her agape mouth whilst the other one pointed behind Galinda. Shenshen's eyes widened and she let go of her grip, fixing her hair whilst never taking her eyes off of him. Galinda turned, curious to see who this "heartthrob" was. She felt her heart race a little, and her stomach drop in the slightest.

"His name is Fiyero Tigelaar," she heard Shenshen say, though her eyes weren't on him. They were on her roommate, who had come into the dining hall alongside him. They parted ways, Elphaba prattling along in her clunky boots and shapeless dress, the color of rich soil, an almost-black. She wore her hair in a braid, like always, and her thin-rimmed specs sat near the tip of her nose, sliding from the green girl's antsy movements. As Pfannee and Shenshen gushed about Fiyero, who innocently took a seat someplace else, Galinda's eyes followed her roomie. _She always looks like she's in a hurry_ , she thought. _Like something has to get done. It's lunch, Elphaba, nothing is urgent about lunch._ Elphaba strode toward a free table, but caught Galinda's gaze, her face lighting up. She began to walk over, a smile gracing her lips. _Those have become more often_ , Galinda mused to herself, smiling at her roomie. Elphaba noticed Galinda's company however and became noticeably stiff, her expression concentrated and calculating. _Please sit with me. These two crazies are driving me nuts with all this boy-obsession business._ Galinda forgot about her initial fear of seeing Elphaba, of being reminded about the... well... the lessons. In this moment she wanted Elphaba to talk to, not these two ninnies.

Elphaba's face changed into one of determination. She marched over to Galinda's table and eyed her friends, then eyed the empty space next to her roomie.

"Is this seat taken?" she asked playfully. Galinda, who'd normally be mortified to be acknowledged by the green girl in public found herself pleasantly joyed.

"Of course not, won't you join us Miss Elphaba?" _Back to honorifics are we,_ Galinda asked herself _. We'll change that._ As Elphaba sat down, a bit timidly now, Galinda shifted a little closer to her, offering some of her salad.

"Would you like some of my salad, Elphaba? I'm pretty full myself." Elphaba smiled and blushed, happy to see Galinda opening up on their friendship, in public. She nodded and took the fork and bowl from Galinda, munching away at what was left. Pfannee and Shenshen sat their dumbfounded.

"Galinda what's with the toad?" Pfannee said nastily. Elphaba looked up, a calm expression on her face, although Galinda knew she was hurt, her grip on the fork loosening.

"She's my _roommate_ girls, and a friend," Galinda bit back. Elphaba beamed.

"Why ever would you want to be friends with _her_?" Shenshen hissed, her eyes flitting between the two, unable to grasp any of it. Galinda twitched, anger boiling in her chest. _Why was she getting so defensive? Or had they always been this mean and she just didn't notice, being one of the bullies herself?_

"Because she's my friend, and that's that," Galinda said matter-of-factly, crossing her ankles out of hidden nervousness. _I'm being judged for this. No matter._

" _And_ I'm her tutor," Elphaba mused, her confidence boosting. "By the way, Galinda my dear, we need to figure out your first lesson. I know it's hard the first couple of times but once you get into it-"

" _She's_ tutoring _you_?" Shenshen exclaimed, her eyes growing wide. Pfannee barely held in a chuckle. Galinda's face blanched. "I knew you were desperate Galinda, I heard of how you went and asked nearly everyone to help with your studies, but _this?_ You settled with the green girl?" Pfannee couldn't take it anymore, she let out an obnoxious laugh, attracting the eyes of several students who began to watch the group of girls.

"I..." Galinda started, her cheeks reddening and her throat growing hot. Elphaba looked at her quizzically. "I have to go. I feel a migraine coming on." She grabbed her bag and stood up shakily, walking toward the exit. Elphaba followed her to ask what was wrong; Galinda jerked away from her and quickened her pace back to the dorm, leaving Elphaba alone in the dining hall, with dozens of eyes left watching.

* * *

Galinda made her way back to the dorm _,_ her whole body shuddering. She kicked her shoes off and let go of her purse, hurling herself onto her bed. She buried her face into one of her pillows and willed herself not to cry, but the tears could not be stopped. Her shoulders quaked up and down, her throat felt scratchy. She would've stayed like that had not the door been opened.

Elphaba stood there in the doorway, trying to catch her breath, a green hand placed on her chest to guide her breathing—she had ran. Her eyes fell to the shoes, then the purse, then to the body on the bed. Galinda could feel Elphaba's eyes on her back and quickly sat up, facing away from her, and feverishly wiped her tears away. Her nose and eyes felt red and puffy, her cheeks stained, but it was better than nothing. Elphaba was no fool though.

"You're crying."

 _No shit, Elphaba._

"Why are you crying, what's wrong?" her voice softer now, less impassive.

"I didn't mean for you to see me like this," Galinda rambled. "Why did you follow me anyway?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes even though Galinda couldn't see. "I live here, first of all. And second of all, you're my friend and I care about you." Once the words left her mouth Elphaba got very quiet all of a sudden, her head bowing towards her chest. "Or so I thought."

Galinda turned around and saw the green girl, looking like someone who had just been given bad news.

"What do you mean," she asked. "We are friends. I'll admit it took me a while to come around, but we're friends, Elphaba."

"Then what was all that about," Elphaba muttered, her jaw clenching and her eyes darting around different knots in the floorboard. "You seemed repulsed by the idea of me being your tutor. Are you really that embarrassed by me? I thought we got past that." Elphaba was rambling without really realizing it and it made Galinda uncomfortable. She was so used to seeing her roommate as the logical one, her emotions well-contained, if shown at all. She knew the green girl had feelings and was hurt by what other people said, but she didn't expect herself to be one of them. She felt awful.

"Oh Elphaba... I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way. I just—" she stopped, her lips slightly parted as if she were to continue, but she didn't. Galinda stared blankly at the wall, trying to formulate the rest of what she wanted to say, but she couldn't.

"Then how did you mean it? You've been avoiding me all the time, anyway."

"That's not true!" Galinda's voice shrilled.

"Well not physically at least, but in other ways. You don't ever want to talk about our lessons." Galinda's eyes went a little fuzzy. "You always try to change the subject and ignore it, and it's frustrating. Do you _want_ to fail?" She was becoming too confrontational now, and Galinda didn't like it. Because she knew Elphaba was right, but for the wrong reasons. She had the swallow her tears and shake her head no.

"N-no. I don't. I don't want to fail the next test, I don't want to fail any test for that matter." Elphaba looked at Galinda, the way she sat on her bed, looking as fragile as she did. Seeing Galinda sitting like that, perched solemnly on her bed as if she were helpless, was starting to drive Elphaba mad. It was starting to get to her, how Galinda kept avoiding her help, the help she so desperately needed. It stung.

"Then you have to _work_ , Galinda _._ You can't expect everything to come to you," she said snippily, her whole body heaving this way and that as she threw her green arms out for emphasis.

"You're right," said Galinda in a faint whisper. "You're right you're right you're right you're right."

"I can be right but that doesn't matter if you're not going to do anything about it. Galinda, I love you too much for you to throw this opportunity away. You're not a child for oz sakes, you can manage this." Galinda's heart stirred unexpectedly. _I love you too much_. She smiled nervously at Elphaba, who blushed a faint crimson once she realized what she had said. But she didn't take it back.

"Oh, but that's the thing," said Galinda, beginning to open up. "I _can't_ manage it." Her face contorted and she nearly started crying again, though she kept herself together for the most part. Elphaba noticed the sudden change and relaxed, her expression softening and her arms laying limp at her sides. She pushed her glasses back up on her nose and made her way to the bed, sitting on it like she had a few days before. She was used to it now and found it quite comforting for the both of them.

"Why don't you think you can manage it?" Elphaba asked, wiping away some of the stray tears that managed to roll down Galinda's cheeks, despite her best efforts to keep them at bay. She wiped them with her thumb, and they stung a little, leaving dark marks. Elphaba grimaced quietly and Galinda noticed, but didn't know how to ask about it. Instead she was grateful for the gesture.

"Because I'm dumb. Everyone thinks so." She said it so carelessly, as if she actually thought it were true, which Elphaba hoped against.

"You don't actually think that, do you?" she asked, her voice serious and her face scrunched. It sent a shiver down Galinda's back.

"I do," Galinda gulped. Elphaba looked like a hawk. Her eyebrows furrowed deeper and her mouth stayed slightly agape, as if trying to make sense of what she was hearing.

"But... but you're not dumb. What about all those discussions we have together? About Animal rights and the beginnings of evil?"

"Oh Elphaba, _you're_ the one who's responsible for those, I'm just the supportive audience who claps when the time is right."

"No, no _no_. You have your input, your opinions that I listen to, that I listen to because they're insightful."

"They're predictable."

"Insightful _._ And they're yours. You bring up things that I never would've considered."

"Oh that's a lie," Galinda scoffed, but her lips twitched into a shy smile.

"It is not! I don't lie Miss Galinda!" Elphaba exclaimed, her voice going an octave higher in a way that made Galinda laugh.

"What's with this _Miss Galinda_?" Galinda snorted, which surprised Elphaba and sent her into a fit of giggles.

When they both calmed down Elphaba took Galinda's hands in hers, mindlessly stroking the backs of them with her pinky. She looked into Galinda's eyes, which sent a shiver down the girl's spine.

"You're not dumb, my sweet."

Galinda smiled tenderly at her roommate. "You're just saying that."

"I'm not. I mean it. You just have to apply yourself. We'll start our first lesson tomorrow."

"But I-" Elphaba silenced her with the raise of a hand, her palm pointed toward Galinda. Galinda studied it, noticing for the first time how Elphaba's palms were a lighter shade of green.

"Tomorrow."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hi guys! Sorry for how long this update took for those who reviewed; I originally wrote the first chap during my winter break, and then I was back in school! Hopefully now that it's the summer I'll be updating more often, so here's chapter 2! Reviews are appreciated :)**


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